Robust segmentation of CMM data based on NURBS

Abstract

Segmentation is a crucial step towards the interpretation of discrete three-dimensional measurement data. This paper presents a robust method for compound free-form surface segmentation and reconstruction. In the proposed method, a cloud of measurement data are collected through a coordinate measuring machine (CMM). The set of measurement data is then sliced along, at most, three orthogonal directions. On each slicing plane, measurement data is fitted by a 2D NURBS spline. Now, maximum curvature points on each NURBS spline can be calculated. These points represent the boundary of the digitised object. With the proposed method, three-dimensional segmentation is simplified to a two-dimensional problem. The effectiveness of the proposed segmentation method will be illustrated with examples of a hair drier and a telephone receiver.